EXCERPTS FROM THE KORNERMAN'S RECENT SPEECH

     LET'S TALK SOME BASKETBALL

     In the early 1920's, there was no Iowa High School Athletic Association so, there was no "official" State Boys Basketball Tournament. However, there were invitational tournaments at the State University of Iowa and Iowa State University and both claimed to be state championship events.

    At the Ames tournament in both 1920 and 1921, the Boone High School team claimed the championships behind the outstanding play of one of the Toreadors greatest all-around athletes, "Hap" Moran who was an all-state basketball player and later, played football in the early days of the National Football League.

   The next appearance by a Toreador team at state was in the official IHSAA tournament in 1932 and again, BHS was the state champion, coached by Harold (Bud) Fisher and led on the court by all-stater Oc Dettman. 

    Boone defeated Muscatine, 16-11, in the state title game at Drake Fieldhouse in Des Moines. The fieldhouse was absolutely "packed to the rafters" and, in fact, an estimated 1,500 fans were "turned away," not able to get in the building.

    The official attendance for that game was 8,000 and, at that time, it was the largest crowd to ever witness a basketball game in Iowa. Not even the college teams in the state drew that many fans to a game.

    BHS also qualified for the 1948 and 1963 state tournaments but were eliminated in the early  rounds.

    FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES

    Every March, the entire USA goes crazy for college basketball as tournament play leads up to the "Final Four," the top teams in the nation in both the men's and women's competition.

    The State University of Iowa made two appearances in the "Final Four" in the mid-1950's and there were Boone connections in both of those tournaments.

    The 1954 and 1956 Hawkeye teams both earned berths in the "Final Four" and both were coached by Frank (Bucky) O'Conner, who was the Boone High School coach in the 1940's, including that 1948 state tourney entrant.

    One of the other teams in that Final Four was the University of Colorado. They had an outstanding individual player who won All-Tournament "Final Four" honors because of his outstanding play. That was Jim Ranglos, another former Toreador coach, who guided BHS to that 1963 state high school tournament appearance.

    BOONE GIRLS STATE APPEARANCES

    Boone High School girls basketball teams have earned state recognition with four appearances in the state tournament. 

    Both the 1958 and 1989 six-on-six teams were in the fields while the 2017 and 2018 five player units also qualified. All lost in first round state play except the 1989 team which posted an opening round victory.